Rise in college dropouts due to inflated Covid high school exams and teacher-graded exams

University dropouts have risen sharply after teacher-graded exams and inflated pandemic A-levels, it has been warned.

One university reported failing assessments and not turning in at all triggered a worrying decline in university returnees this year.

dr University of South Wales vice-chancellor Ben Calvert told The Telegraph that the number of students returning for the 2022-2023 academic year had fallen by 6.1 per cent.

Almost half of all A-level grades — 45 percent — were graded A or A* in 2021, compared to 39 percent in 2020 and 25 percent in 2019

University staff were alerted to the issue in an email, which allegedly read: “We know that the suspension of Baccalaureate exams and the so-called grade inflation of Baccalaureate and other qualifications have had an impact; We also know that the trend towards only doing some assessments is mirrored in our local colleges.’

Grade inflation has come after exams were canceled due to the pandemic, meaning teachers played a role in deciding and awarding grades.

Coursework, classwork, and mini-assessments were used as measures to reach these grade decisions, giving students a number of opportunities to prove themselves.

Almost half of all A-level grades — 45 percent — were graded A or A* in 2021, compared to 39 percent in 2020 and 25 percent in 2019.

The number of students returning for the 2022-2023 academic year fell 6.1 per cent at the University of South Wales, it has been reported

Last year there were 43,000 young people without a guaranteed place at university – the highest number in a decade – partly influenced by a surge in applications

While promises were made that exams would return to normal, the need for certain allowances was stressed Students would not be disadvantaged compared to the previous year.

But in 2022 there were 43,000 without a guaranteed place at university – the highest number in a decade – partly influenced by a surge in applications.

Conservative MP Robert Halfon and Chair of the Commons Education Committee voiced his concerns about the exam system to BBC Radio 4’s World At One program in 2021.

He told them: “I worry about the fact that we seem to have essentially baked a hard stone cake of grade inflation into our exam results and what we need to do to ensure our exams are a level playing field, but of course… will Recognized and valued by colleges, universities and employers.

“I would have preferred a system with some sort of standardized scoring.”

Tom Richmond, Director of the EDSK [education and skills] think tank, also previously warned that the high proportion of top marks could “undermine” the “credibility” of the results.

Referring to giving generous grades, he said, “Even though giving such high grades feels fair to some students, it can hurt their long-term prospects when they apply for jobs in the future,” he said. “There is now a serious risk that this year’s grades will simply be meaningless in the eyes of employers and universities.”

In 2022, however, top A-level grades saw the largest drop ever recorded in the qualification’s 70-year history.

This came despite the provision of ‘cheat sheets’ and additional leniency due to Covid disruptions.

dr Jo Saxton, Ofqual’s chief regulator, confirmed that 2023 will return to “pre-pandemic classification as the next step towards a return to normalcy”.

“We expect overall results in 2023 to be much closer to pre-pandemic years than results since 2020,” it said.

The 2023 Abitur results day will take place on August 17th.